Bill O'Reilly Chooses Ratings Over Restraint

When Bill O'Reilly first broke the story about Jesse Jackson's comments, he made a point of telling viewers that he wasn't revealing everything Jackson said because it wasn't important to the story suggesting that he was far too noble to stoop to tabloid tactics. If you suspected that O'Reilly would find a way to use the dirt while maintaining his virtuous persona, you were correct. Somehow the edited Jackson comments were leaked and O'Reilly immediately showed up on Studio B with Shepard Smith today to get some more attention. Then,of course, he repeated the whole routine on The Factor tonight and even aired a clip from Studio B.

Smith, claiming that the tape is always rolling during a remote taping, couldn't understand how Jackson would allow himself to get caught. O'Reilly, sounding very understanding, managed to make the point that Jackson was over the hill by suggesting he could have forgotten the tape was on because of his age.

O'Reilly explained that he had to report the story because it was about a civil rights leader attacking Obama adding that he never wanted to hurt Jesse Jackson. However, he didn't explain why he had to leave in the "cut off his nuts" line or why he was compelled to continue the humiliation by having Jackson's body language analyzed last night

BOR, stayed firmly on his pedestal, refusing to elaborate on the "trash talk" that was leaked online. However, he did let Smith reveal that the "N" word was involved and confirmed that the leakers had the correct information .